Xboxist

Orb Takes a Bite out of Apple for Media Freedom

Apple was given another strong message by hackers, in that users want flexibility, openness and freedom. Hackers applied the Orb principle of "Opening the Proprietary Platform to Allow Streaming of Other Formats" (Source: eHomeUpgrade).

"Within 24 hours, hackers had taken the Apple TV box and Orb-ized it," said Joe Costello, chairman and CEO of Orb Networks. "It shows yet again that people don't want a narrow channel, they want open systems and the freedom to access their own stuff when they want and how they choose.

"Of course, they could have saved themselves the $300 and just downloaded Orb onto their home PC for free," lamented Costello. "Why pay for another piece of hardware that comes with restrictions when Orb is free and without limits?"

He is right, through their MyCasting service, Orb has now got a user base of 17 million households, as their technology allows anyone to stream any digital media content on their PC to their Wii, PS3 and now Xbox 360 console. And dig this, its all totally free to download and install! This has put a serious dent in Apple's plans, and no doubt they will have to reconsider their strategy at some point.

With the Orb software installed, your home PC effectively acts like your personal broadcasting system. You now have the ability to stream content through any internet-connected device like a mobile phone, PDA, laptop or your lovely Xbox or any console. According to Endgadget, The newly-added 360 support can use the built-in media capabilities of its Windows Media Center Extender, with just the Orb software on the PC end. PS3 and Wii setups stream from a Flash-embedded MyCast site. The Orb streamer only plays well with Vista and XP, and needs a 2.4GHz Pentium 4, AMD 3200+, or higher CPU, as well as Windows Media, Real, or Quicktime Players for the streaming. Content also ends up as Flash video, so that probably nixes any support for high definition.

Here's a quick breakdown that explains just how Orb works with your console courtesy of eHomeUpgrade:

1. Download load Orb at www.orb.com (Version v2.00.0856 or higher) onto your always-on Windows PC at home. It takes less than 3 minutes to do.

2. For the Wii and PS3, turn on the TV that is connected to your game console and open your Web browser. Using your remote control or controller, log onto your Orb account through your game console at mycast.orb.com.

3. For the XBox 360, go to the media tab and select the media type (video, photos, or music) you want to play on your TV. Click "computer" from the list of options, and you will see a list of the computers running Orb on your LAN. Select one and then pick from the available video, photos, or music.

4. That's it. Now enjoy, watch and listen to any digital content on your home PC - videos, music, Internet TV and radio or any other online content you programmed in your Orb MyCast application: they are now all airing on your TV screen.

Told you guys its all convergence man!